Jan. 14, 2006
LAS VEGAS - UNLV shot 51 percent from the field, including a 62.5 mark from beyond the arc, to hand the San Diego State women's basketball team a 71-54 loss Saturday evening at Cox Pavilion. The Aztecs battled to cut a 16-point second-half deficit down to just nine, but ended up falling in the end to drop to 3-11 overall and 0-4 in the Mountain West Conference, while UNLV improved to 10-4 and 2-1 in league action.
Aztec senior Michelle Strawberry (Corona, Calif.) resumed her scoring streak after a one-game absence, tallying a team-best 23 points for her 12th outing in double-figures in 2005-06. Strawberry has also now scored 20 or more points in a game four times this season. Sophomore Shanna Demus (Palmdale, Calif.) had a career-high in points (12) and three-pointers (3), while Veronica Shaw (Phoenix, Ariz.) was the third SDSU player in double-figures with 10 points and four assists.
SDSU opened the game with the first basket by Strawberry, but then was shutout for the next seven minutes as UNLV built a nine-point advantage at 11-2. Another Strawberry field goal sparked a 10-2 Aztec run, which was capped by a Demus three-pointer to cut the deficit to just one at 13-12.
The UNLV lead fluctuated between three and five points until the final 1:29, when the Lady Rebels scored eight straight with a three at the buzzer to carry a 29-18 advantage into the half.
SDSU rallied to get to within single digits on two occasions in the first half at the 15:20 and 14:10 marks, but UNLV kept the Aztecs at arms length, going up by as many as 16 points with nine minutes remaining in the game. San Diego State kept fighting despite the deficit, using a full court press to close to just nine on Audrey Green's (San Marcos, Calif.) lay-up at 63-54 with just over two minutes left.
Green's bucket would be the team's final points of the contest as the Lady Rebels closed out the game win an 8-0 run for their second straight victory in the series, 71-54.
UNLV got 23 points from guard Sheena Moore, who was 4-for-4 from beyond the arc, while Sherry McCracklin added 19 in 35 minutes.
The Aztecs return to San Diego for a Wednesday contest against the Mountain West Conference's newest member TCU at 7 p.m. at Cox Arena. SDSU will then face BYU on the road Saturday in Provo, Utah, at 2 p.m.